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Ves Meliam
An archaeologist trained by and working with the Guild. Current home base is Ilbidor. Also a Druid. Stats Languages spoken: Common, Elvish, Celestial, Undercommon, Druidic Tools known: Cartographers' Tools; Herbalism Kit Proficiencies: History; Insight; Nature; Religion; Sleight of Hand; Survival Appearance Tall, but not the tallest of her sisters (Teresa is 6'1" and Corinne fully grown will be 6'4"). Oval shaped face, soft cheeks. Crook in her nose from where Alena broke it when they were children and it didn't set right. Thin eyes, a deep emerald green in colour but appears to shift in the light. Long eyelashes. Wide lips. Thick, black hair in many braids, some with bells and ribbons and flowers tied in. Olive skin. Thin, not particularly muscular but enough to show she's active. Long fingers, usually dirty. Nails which are definitely bitten. Usually wears comfortable clothing, hide armour. Wears her scimitar and shield across her back. Has a belt with pockets and patches attached to it. Has no idea what is in most of the pockets. Has wraps around her feet because she doesn't like shoes, but will wear shoes when she has to. A medallion around her neck - a green circle with pale swirls on it in no particular pattern. Background Born during a solar eclipse, Silvestra - more commonly known as Ves - is the second of the six Meliam sisters. Her mother was an Elvish high priest at the temple of Silvanus in their small rural town and her father a human gardener and the eight of them lived in the small house attached to the temple. She and her sisters - Alena, Bridget, Teresa, Francene and Corinne - spent their childhood happy and free range, exploring the forest behind the town and helping their mother in the temple and their father in the grounds. Ves loved her sisters dearly but they were sometimes too much for her and she would break off from the group to play on her own. Once Francene was born it happened less - the two were as thick as thieves - but Ves continued to need time on her own, away from her many sisters, to recharge. They were exhausting, at times. She frustrated her mother and father to no end with her disappearances and quiet, absent minded nature that meant when they asked where she'd been or what she'd been doing, she often had no answer for them, just a smile and a vague, "the forest told me to follow, so I did." Ves thought her mother would be more pleased the forest was talking to her. Well - not talking exactly. She did hear some whispers as she played in the woods, but it was more that she'd be doing something, and then something would catch her eye, and she'd feel a nudge, and she'd know the forest wanted her to move deeper, so she would. Anyway, her mother had been telling her since she was small that Silvestra was named for the Oakfather, the god of nature and the forests, and one day she would join her mother as his priest in the temple. Ves therefore thought her mother would be more impressed that she'd been communing with the forests. She was 12 she found the ruins. She had left Alena bossing the younger children about, their father distracted by newborn Corinne, and ventured far into the woods behind her house, far beyond the oak grove they often played in. She roamed for what seemed like hours, stumbling over logs and around great trees, walking deeper and deeper in. Every time she thought she should turn back, a wind would blow and move a branch out of the way, or she'd hear the burble of a stream, or a squirrel would chirp from a nearby tree and she would continue on. Eventually, she came across a clearing. It was beautiful, idyllic. Sun streamed through the dappled branches and the grass was overgrown and verdant, and colourful wildflowers grew in patches. In the centre of the clearing, there was an old tree, and around that, the ruins of an old building. Ves took to investigating it immediately. She looked at the structure, the rocks, the carving in the tree, the way the plants had overgrown up and around it as if they had been part of the initial structure. She dug through the mud and found evidence of the temple that had been here - a burnished candlestick, part of an old pot and a carved wooden symbol - the head of a unicorn. It was as she pulled this last out of the ground and began to brush the dirt off that she met the dryad. The dryad lived in the tree in the centre of the ruin and wanted to know how Ves had found her home. Honestly, Ves told her that the forest had told her how to get here, which the dryad was not expecting much. Ves showed her the things she had found and asked if she knew what used to be here. The dryad told her it used to be a place to show dedication to the Forest Queen but it had fallen into obscurity and disrepair over the years as people moved towards other faiths. Ves was fascinated, and asked the dryad to tell her more and more about the ruins and what had happened to them. The dryad was confused but flattered by the interest and relatively certain that the child meant no harm and so indulged her. Ves had to return home before long, but the dryad promised if she came back she'd tell her more. She made a wildflower bloom and gave it to Ves as promise, and Ves asked if she could learn to do that as well. "Maybe," the dryad said, and vanished back into her tree. Haniel and Francis were furious when Ves returned, and she was banned from leaving the temple grounds for a month. Throughout that month, Ves played with her sisters and helped in the gardens and noticed that the flower never seemed to wilt. When she eventually could go back to the clearing, the dryad was there and told her more about the Forest Queen and began to teach her small tricks. As Ves grew older, she returned to the clearing when she could and her power began to grow. She paid less and less attention to her mother's lessons about Silvanus and began to chafe at his - and Haniel's - strictness and unforgiving nature. The things she learnt with the dryad were so much more fun. They delighted in nature and what it could do, there wasn't this seemingly arbitrary, "you must do this, you must do that, I am lord of all and must be obeyed." At 17, Ves announced she going to leave on her 18th birthday. She didn't want to be a priest of Silvanus, she wanted to explore the world and find new ruins and new people to teach her things. Haniel laughed to begin with, sure that Ves was joking, but once she realised she was being serious, began to grow angry. "How dare you?" Haniel yelled, "how dare you? I raised you to be his follower!" "I don't want to be his follower," Ves replied. "I don't want to stay here in this little village all my life and guard the trees. I want to see the world." "If you don't want to be his follower, you can leave right now!" Haniel said. "I won't have dissenters living in my home." Francene and Corinne begged Ves not to go, but she packed her bag that night and left home. She and her mother had never been close and had fought like many teenage girls and their mothers do, but she didn't think she'd actually be thrown out. She went to the clearing that night, where she sat against the tree and cried. The dryad came out to comfort her, after a while. "Shh, my child," she said. "This is for the best, you'll see." "How?" Ves sobbed. "I have no home, no money, nowhere to go. What do I do now?" "It is like you told me when we first met. The forest will guide you." And guide her the forest did. The next morning, Ves dried her eyes, said goodbye to the dryad and walked out of the clearing in the opposite direction of her village. She emerged on the other side to find a town where - fortuitously - a drow elf named Kinvar Dhalmass was looking for people to join an expedition, to discover lost tombs in the moorlands. Ves signed up and has not looked back since. Kinvar trained her up as a prime archaeologist, and set her off to find her own expeditions. On one of her first digs with Kinvar, after she had first gotten his attention with her potential, she found a chest that contained 6 medallions, each green with pale swirls on them. Kinvar said they were worthless, far more interested in the rings and pendants in the chest, and she could keep them if she wanted, so she did. She kept one for herself, and sent the other 5 to her sisters, with letters that said she was sorry for leaving like she did, but she still loved them and their parents very much and she thought of them daily. Her sisters wrote back to her after a time, first Alena and Teresa, then Francene, then Corinne, then finally Bridget. They each said that they missed her, too, and that their mother was still very angry. Alena said she was hoping to leave for the Big City nearby soon, to train as a guard there and she was excited to leave. Francene told her about the new places she'd found in the woods and the new games she was playing. Corinne - obviously dictated and written by their father - said she loved her very very much and the necklace was soooo pretty and she was going to wear it every day. Teresa wrote that Haniel had turned her attentions to Bridget since she had left. Bridget didn't write much of anything, but expressed her gratitude for the pendant and said things were different now she was away. In the first few years after she left, Ves returned to her village every couple of months to see her family, and then to the City to see Alena. Her mother was always cold to her and Bridget grew colder as well as time went on. When Ves was 22, her father died while she was in the middle of an expedition, and she didn't hear until a month later when she returned to the place she was currently calling home. She rushed back to the village to find she had - of course - missed the funeral. Haniel was worse to her than usual. "Couldn't even come backto say goodbye to your father, could you?" She sneered. "I - I would have!" Ves protested. "I was away, I only just found out. Where - where did you bury him?" "In the yard." Haniel said. "May I see him?" Ves asked. "No. He's buried in consecrated grounds - for followers of the Oakfather only. Having a non-believer there would disturb it. You can't go. In fact, it might be better for you to stay away from here entirely. Your father was the only one that wanted you back in the first place. You're no daughter of mine anymore. It was probably his horror at what you've become that killed him." Ves was heartbroken. She quietly acknowledged her mother's words and left the home she grew up in, never to return again. After a few months, her younger sisters wrote and asked by she hadn't been writing or visiting, and Ves replied that their mother was angry with her and she thought her sisters were as well. They assured her they were not, but agreed that it would be for the best if she didn't return for now. For the last 6 years, Ves has been continuing her archaeological studies, and communing with the forests where she can. The forest always seems happy to see her, no matter how long she has been away and she takes comfort in that. She's still in touch with her sisters and not her mother, but she's less hurt by that than she used to be. She's continuing to find new places and temples and learn about the past, and maybe one day she'll go home. Maybe. Personality Traps don't make me nervous. Idiots who trigger traps make me nervous. I have no qualms about stealing from the dead. I love a good puzzle or mystery. I'm happier in a dusty old tomb than I am in the centers of civilization. Fairly meek and quiet. Obliging but absent minded. Highly intelligent and knows it. Deeply cares for her family and writes letters to her sisters and sends them trinkets everywhere she goes. Doesn't really like attention much. Opinionated but doesn't like causing a fuss so will bow to pressure. If she could spend the rest of her life adventuring through tombs on her own, she would. I have a secret fear of some common wild animal ― and in my work, I see them everywhere. (it's spiders) Can be super passive aggressive, and also aggressive aggressive, when offended. Something of a coward, doesn't like confrontation much. An iffy and occasionally openly disdainful relationship with organised religion and the religious, especially those who follow Silvanus. Forgetful. Doesn't suffer fools gladly. Relationships * Kinvar Dhalmass - A Drow Archaeologist who Ves apprenticed under. Member of the Guild, resident in Ilbidor. * Melchior and Juliotte Fieffer - Wealthy human siblings who live in Ilbidor. Ves' frequent patrons, for the past 4 years, on private digs for the benefit of their museum. Ves is madly in love with Juliotte but hasn't told her. Family * Haniel Meliam - Ves’ mother. A wood elf, and the head cleric at the village temple to Silvanus, the Oakfather. Haniel raised her girls to be pious and respectful, but spent so much time at the temple that she rarely saw them and they grew up wild. When she was around, she was strict and unyielding. She and Ves started clashing very early on, as Ves was (and is) uninterested in organised religion, especially that of the Oakfather. Ves was named for the God, and was supposed to be raised to take over from Haniel when she got old enough. Haniel was not impressed that instead Ves decided she'd be an archaeologist. Haniel is proud of the work that she does, and doesn't understand why her daughters won't just conform like they are supposed to. She ignores the fact that she herself disobeyed her parents to marry the human Francis she loved instead of the elf they picked for her. * Alena Meliam - Ves’ elder sister (31 years old). the oldest of the Meliam girls, used this power to boss around her sisters. She knew what she wanted and how to get it. Much more strong-willed than Ves, she ran the household while her mother was out. Haniel and Francis allowed their oldest daughter to make her own path in life - something Ves was always jealous of. They got along well, as the two eldest, though Alena never learnt as quickly as Ves did and would sometimes get frustrated about that. They usually managed to make up before dinner though. Alena moved out of home when she was 23, and is currently a member of the City Guard. She sends money back to her family when she can. ** Talios Fahren- Alena's husband, human. ** Peony Meliam-Fahren - Alena’s daughter, Ves’ niece. 3 years old. * Bridget Meliam - 3rd Meliam daughter. 25 years old. Teresa’s twin. Ves and Bridget have rarely gotten on. Ves thinks Bridget is a stuck up goody two shoes and boring. Bridget thinks Ves is lost in her own world, creepy and a troublemaker. The truth is actually that they're both very alike. Bridget is as intelligent as Ves is and as children they never could realise this enough to get along, especially with their somewhat opposing views on law and order (Bridget loves rules. Ves... could do without.). However, Bridget is resentful of Ves, as when Ves left home and declined becoming a cleric, the buck passed to Bridget. Bridget isn't sure that being a cleric of the Oakfather is what she wanted, either, but she's not going to break their mother's heart a second time. Still, she's angry that Ves got to say no and she didn't. * Teresa Meliam - 4th Meliam daughter. 25 years old. Bridget’s twin. Ves likes her much better. Teresa is sweet and excitable. She always followed Alena and Ves on their adventures outside without hesitation, where Bridget might have worried about what their mother would say. Teresa is ironically however the most enthusiastic about the Oakfather. She's very devout and Ves doesn't understand. Right now, Teresa is living with Alena in the City. She doesn't have a job yet, but she's still looking. She might want to join the Guard as well, but she doesn't want to be seen as Alena's little sister - that's all she's been all her life, the 4th of the Meliam girls. So she spends most her time with her niece. Teresa is dating a woman from the neighbourhood, named Robyn and once Teresa finds a job they're thinking about moving in together. * Francene Meliam - 5th Meliam daughter. 23 years old. Haniel and Francis' last ditch effort to get a boy. Obviously, it didn't work, and Haniel said no more after the 5th girl. Francene is therefore named after her father. Francene is Ves' favourite sister. Ves remembers her mom being pregnant with Fran, and remembers her as a baby. Ves would show Francene everything she could and was the only sister to whom she showed the ruin in the forest, and the one she keeps in closest touch with now. Ves and Francene got in a lot of trouble together as children because Fran would sneak away, Ves would follow, they'd get into a scrape and somehow return 4 hours later covered in dirt and laughing madly. Francene is charismatic and charming and can usually be found in the village tavern, conning the tourists and locals alike out of their money for drinks. She's working on her apprenticeship, theoretically, but that's been going on a while and Ves is fairly sure she's supposed to be done now. She'll get there eventually - Ves hopes. * Corinne Meliam - 6th (and last) Meliam daughter. 16 years old. Corinne was not an expected child. No less wanted, but not expected or planned for. She is the apple of her mother's eye, the baby, who can do no wrong. She was only 10 when her father died, and so is still very dependent on her mom. Ves doesn't know her very well, as she left home when Corinne was 6, and then was banned from returning when she was 10, so they've only spoken through letters, really. Corinne seems intelligent, though, and talented, and writes with enthusiasm about the apprenticeship she's going to be taking up once she finishes her education. She's going to be working with Haniel and Bridget, in the temple, but she's going to be taking up her father's role of working in the gardens. She says she's most at peace in the gardens, which is something Ves can relate to, so she wishes her baby sister well. * Francis Meliam (deceased) - Ves’ father. Human. He didn't have a specific job of his own, but supported Haniel He was a general caretaker/gardener/pastoral assistant/stay at home dad. He was a kind, funny man who loved being surrounded by his girls all day. Ves adored her dad. He listened to her and was in awe of the things she found and did in the forest. He died when Ves was 22 (6 years ago). The last time she returned to the village was just after his death. Category:PCs Category:Characters Category:Ziggurats